....I wasn’t properly dressed to go skiing.  Little wonder really, I’d left home with the intention of flying to London and driving to Kenya.  We’d actually bought the Land Rover and got as far as Piccadilly Circus.  Those plans had unravelled in favour of touring the Continent.  This particular morning had found me in Innsbruck.  That’s serendipity....  

....Do you remember when freedom was just a flight away; adventures on arrival at Narita, greetings between old friends, renewed acquaintance in Roppongi.... 

......Michael Z. had come by the house to pay a visit to my younger sister.  I swear I was only fooling around when I greeted him on the front porch waving a butcher knife....

.....There is something inexpressibly exhilarating about stepping onto the ice again for the first time in the fall, the feel of sharpened blades cutting into the smooth, freshly-frozen surface as you turn up rink with the puck on your stick, cool, crisp air rushing over your face and through your jersey as you savour the sense of speed and acceleration.  It's like being a kid again... 

....There's never really a convenient time to have kids.  Sometimes, they just happen.  But once you've had them, every year keeps getting better and better.  Things are not as difficult as you might imagine when they first arrive; they sleep a lot, if you're lucky.  They don't get into much trouble, because they can't even crawl around yet.  Even so, they take a bit of care and commitment.  In the end, it's definitely worth it.  And there was always something special about Earl....